Ecclésiaste 7
1 Bonne réputation vaut mieux que bon parfum, et le jour de la mort, que le jour de la naissance.
[Having] a good reputation [MTY] is better than fine perfume, and the day that we die is better than the day that we are born.
2 Mieux vaut aller dans la maison du deuil, que d'aller dans la maison du festin; car c'est là la fin de tous les hommes, et le vivant y rentre en lui-même.
It is better to go to a house where people are mourning [about someone who has died] than to go to a house where people are feasting, because everyone will die some day, and people who are alive should think seriously [IDM] about that.
3 Mieux vaut la tristesse que le rire; car avec un visage triste, le cœur devient bon.
It is better to be sad than to be [always] laughing, because being sad can cause us to think more about how we should conduct our lives [IDM].
4 Le cœur des sages est dans la maison du deuil, mais le cœur des fous est dans la maison de la joie. –
Wise [people] who go to where others are mourning think about [the fact that some day they also will] die, but foolish people [PRS] [do not think about that]; they are always [MTY] laughing.
5 Mieux vaut écouter la censure d'un sage, que d'être un auditeur des chansons des fous.
It is better to pay attention to [someone who is wise] you than to listen to the songs of a foolish person.
6 Car tel le pétillement des épines sous la chaudière, tel est le rire du fou; c'est aussi là une vanité.
By [listening to] foolish people laughing we will not [learn any more than by listening to] the crackling of thorns [being burned] under a pot. Listening to fools is senseless.
7 Car l'ambition d'opprimer rend le sage extravagant, et les présents corrompent le cœur. –
When wise people say to others, “You must pay me a lot of money for me to protect you,” that causes those wise people to become foolish, and [accepting] bribes causes people to become unable to do what is fair/just.
8 Mieux vaut la fin d'une chose que son commencement; mieux vaut patience que présomption. –
Finishing something is better than starting something, and being patient is better than being proud.
9 Ne sois point en ton âme prompt à t'indigner! car l'indignation se dépose dans le sein de l'insensé. –
Do not quickly (lose your temper/react to things angrily), because it is foolish people [SYN] who become very angry.
10 Ne dis pas: Pourquoi les jours d'autrefois étaient-ils meilleurs que ceux-ci? Car ce n'est pas la sagesse qui te dicterait cette question. –
Do not say, “Things were a lot better [RHQ] previously,” because it is people who are not wise who say that.
11 La sagesse est aussi avantageuse qu'un héritage, et c'est un profit pour ceux qui voient le soleil.
Being wise is better than inheriting [valuable things]; being wise provides lasting benefits for every person on the earth [MTY].
12 Car la sagesse offre un abri, l'argent offre un abri; mais l'avantage reste à la science: la sagesse donne la vie à ceux qui la possèdent. –
We are [sometimes] protected by being wise like we are [sometimes] protected by having a lot of money, but being wise is better [than having a lot of money], [because] being wise prevents us from [doing foolish things that would] cause us to die.
13 Considère l'action de Dieu; car qui peut rendre droit ce qu'il a fait courbe? –
Think [carefully about] what God has done. Certainly no one can [RHQ] cause to become straight the things that God has caused to be crooked.
14 Au jour du bonheur, sois heureux, et au jour malheur, ouvre les yeux! Dieu est l'auteur de celui-ci, aussi bien que de celui-là, et cela, afin que de son avenir l'homme ne découvre rien.
When things are going well for you, be happy, and when things are not going well for you, remember that God is the one who causes good things to happen and who also causes disasters.
15 J'ai vu tout cela durant mes jours de vanité. Il est tel juste qui périt malgré sa justice, et tel impie qui prolonge ses jours malgré sa méchanceté. –
During all the time that I have been alive I have seen a lot of [HYP] things that seem senseless. I have seen righteous people die [while they are still young], and I have seen wicked people remain alive for a very long time in [spite of] their continuing to be wicked.
16 Ne sois pas juste à l'excès, et ne te montre pas trop sage! Pourquoi te détruirais-tu?
[So] do not think that you are very righteous and do not think that you are very wise, [because if you think those things], you will destroy yourself.
17 Ne sois pas impie à l'excès, et ne deviens pas un insensé! Pourquoi mourrais-tu avant ton heure?
If you do what is evil or do what is foolish, you might die while you are still young.
18 Il est bon que tu tiennes à ce dernier avis, et que tu ne te départes point du premier; car celui qui craint Dieu, échappe à toutes ces choses. –
Continue to avoid doing what is evil and doing what is foolish; avoid doing both of those things by continually revering God.
19 La sagesse rend le sage plus fort que dix capitaines qui sont dans une place. –
If you are wise, you will be more powerful/influential than the ten most powerful/influential men in your city.
20 Non, il n'est sur la terre pas un homme juste qui fasse le bien et ne pèche point.
There is no one in this world who [always] does what is right and who never sins.
21 Ne prends non plus pas garde à tous les propos qu'on tient, afin de ne pas t'entendre maudire par ton serviteur.
Do not pay attention [IDM] to everything that people say, because if you do that, you might hear your servant cursing you.
22 Car bien des fois aussi ton cœur te rappelle que de même tu as maudit les autres.
You know that you have also cursed other people.
23 J'ai tenté toutes ces choses avec la sagesse. Je dis: Je veux être sage, mais elle reste à distance de moi.
I said [to myself] that I would use my wisdom to study all the things [that I have written about], but I was not able to do it successfully.
24 Ce qui est lointain et profond, profond, qui saurait l'atteindre? –
Wisdom seems to be far from me; there is no one [RHQ] who can truly understand everything.
25 Je me suis mis avec mon cœur à faire la ronde, pour connaître et explorer et chercher la sagesse et la raison, et pour connaître l'impiété, la folie, la déraison et le délire.
But I decided to investigate things and by my wisdom try to understand the reason for everything. I also wanted to understand why people act wickedly and why they act very foolishly.
26 Et je trouvai quelque chose de plus amer que la mort, c'est la femme dont le cœur est un lacs et un filet, et les mains, des chaînes. Celui qui est bon devant Dieu, lui échappe; mais le pécheur est enlacé par elle.
[One thing I learned was that] (allowing a woman to seduce you/having sex with a woman to whom you are not married) is worse than dying. A woman who tries to seduce men is [as dangerous as] a trap [MET]. [If you allow her to put] her arms [around you, it will be as though she will be fastening you with] chains. Women like that will capture sinful men, but men who please God will escape from such women.
27 Voyez! c'est ici ce que j'ai trouvé en comparant une chose avec une autre pour trouver la raison;
This is what I have learned: I tried to learn more and more about things to try to find out the reason for everything,
28 voici ce que mon âme cherche encore sans que je l'aie trouvé: un homme, sur mille je l'ai trouvé; mais une femme, dans tout ce nombre je ne l'ai pas trouvée.
and I continued to try to learn more, but I could not find [all that I was searching for]. [But] one thing that I found out was that among 1,000 [people] I found one righteous man, but I did not find even one righteous woman.
29 La seule chose, prends-y garde, que j'aie trouvée, c'est que Dieu créa les hommes droits, mais eux, ils ont cherché beaucoup de détours.
[But] I did learn one thing: When God created people, they were righteous, but they have found many ways to do many evil things.
